August 29, 2006
Berries Linked to Improved Memory
New research suggests that consuming a diet rich in berries may help improve brain functioning and memory. The study was conducted by scientists from Tufts University who tested their thesis on rats. Results showed that rats who consumed berries performed better on memory exercises and had higher levels of dopamine. Though the findings are encouraging, more research is needed to determine whether these results apply to human beings as well.trenchant
DEFINITION: (adjective) Having keenness and forcefulness and penetration in thought, expression, or intellect.
SYNONYMS: searching.
USAGE: His trenchant criticism redirected the debate and gave everyone something new to consider.
Charlie Parker
Charlie "Bird" Parker was an American saxophonist and composer. As a young man, he moved to NYC to pursue a career in music. There, Parker met and played with a group of young musicians in Harlem clubs. In 1945, Parker and Dizzy Gillespie made the first bop (or bebop) records, becoming leaders of the bop movement in jazz. Parker's brilliant improvisations, noted for their power and beauty, soon earned the admiration of countless musicians. At what age did Parker begin playing the saxophone?Hurricane Katrina Devastates US Gulf Coast
Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the Central Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm on August 29, 2005. Its storm surge breached the levee system that protected New Orleans from Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River, and the city was soon flooded. This and other major damage to the coastal regions of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama made Katrina the most destructive and costliest natural disaster in US history. How many people died during Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding?Rene Descartes
Each problem that I solved became a rule which served afterwards to solve other problems.Marcasite
Marcasite looks like pyrite and even has the same chemical formula, but it is actually a separate mineral; marcasite is paler in color, becomes darker upon oxidation, and crystallizes in the orthorhombic system. Although the term "marcasite" is often applied to small polished and faceted stones that are inlaid in sterling silver, these stones are actually pyrite; marcasite is never used in jewelry, because it has a tendency to crumble. What is "pyrite decay," and how does it affect marcasite?August 28, 2006
Blue Whale Ancestor Was Ferocious Predator
A 25 million-year-old fossil with sharp teeth found in Australia shows that ancestors of today's toothless blue whales were not all "gentle giants." The fossil is of an early type of baleen whale with sharp teeth that were about 3 cm (1.2 inches) long. It also had large eyes, apparently suited for hunting. Blue whales are the largest creatures ever to inhabit the earth. Whales evolved from land mammals, where their closest relative is the hippopotamus.phytophagous
DEFINITION: (adj.) Feeding on plants, including shrubs and trees.
SYNONYMS: plant-eating, phytophilous.
USAGE: The dot moth is phytophagous, feeding on a wide variety of plants.
Leo Tolstoy
Tolstoy was a Russian novelist and philosopher, considered one of the world's greatest writers. He is perhaps most famous for his masterpieces, War and Peace, a vast prose epic of the Napoleonic invasion of 1812, and Anna Karenina, the tragedy of a woman's faith in romantic love. Tolstoy was an anarchist and disapproved of all organizations based on the premise of force, including the government and the Church. How many characters are there in the 365-chapter War and Peace?“I Have a Dream,” Says Martin Luther King, Jr
King was a leading figure in the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 60s. His "I Have a Dream" speech was delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial as part of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Considered one of the finest speeches in the history of American oratory, it powerfully and eloquently expresses King's desire for a future in which blacks and whites can live harmoniously as equals. What political, cultural, and religious allusions can be found in the speech?- » About
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